Like all of the teams in the third and fourth tier of English football, Wednesday are exempt from the international breaks that come and go over the course of the campaign, and instead have to apply for postponements as each one comes around should they have enough players called up to represent their respective countries.
It happened earlier in the season when Henrik Pedersen’s side saw games moved due to several call-ups at Hillsborough, and there was always an expectation that that might happen again this month.
Three players have to be called up in order for Wednesday to request a postponement of their game against Plymouth Argyle on November 14th, but not all players count towards that tally…
The criteria is as follows:
A Club must have three or more players called up across full, Under 21, Under 20 or Under 19 levels.
For a player to count for the policy, they must be either named in the starting XI or be a named substitute making an appearance prior to the 75th minute, in either 50% of their Club’s first team matches OR in four of the last five first team matches.
For players signed in late August or January, a pro rata basis will apply for fixtures that they have been eligible for their current Club. Injuries and suspensions will not be accounted for within this, while standard loan players will be taken into consideration.
A Club which has their first and second choice goalkeepers selected for international duty is able to request a postponement
Players named on international stand-by lists or long lists will not count towards the three players at the time of announcement.
With that in mind, the call-ups of Jordi Liongola (Burundi) and Sean Fusire (Zimbabwe) don’t count towards the total, with Kieran Morrison’s Northern Ireland the only one so far that contributes on that front. Ali Al-Hamadi, who has struggled with injuries, has been left out of Iraq’s upcoming squad, while Will Grainger - should he be called up to the Wales youth squad - hasn’t played enough for Wednesday to be factored in.
It means that Wednesday are waiting to hear about Yan Valery (Tunisia) and Harry Gray (England U19s) to see whether the Pilgrims clash could be postponed or not. The Tunisians will name their squad on Saturday, while England will name their squad the day before (Friday).
With that in mind, there’s not much wiggle room for what could be Dave Challinor’s first league game, with both Valery and Gray needing to make the cut in order for a postponement to be requested. Plymouth didn’t miss any games during the last international period.
As explained earlier in the season, Jersey Mike’s Trophy matches are not subject to the international call-ups policy, so the Accrington Stanley game will remain as scheduled even if the league game is moved.
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